Palmieri played in 36 games with the team's AHL affiliate, putting up 19 points, during the work stoppage. He was a restricted free agent. This deal can become official at 12 a.m. ET on Sunday. Sat, Jan 12, 2013 10:45:00 PM

Depth Charts

Zibanejad's goal at the 7:16 mark of the third period cut the Blue Jackets' lead to 3-2 at the time, but New York was never able to tie it up. The Rangers forward finished the game with a minus-2 rating and team-high five shots on goal in 20:37 of ice time. The 24-year-old has beed red-hot of late, as he's scored five goals in his last three games. He's also accumulated nine points during his five-game point streak. Zibanejad has 25 goals and 43 points in 63 games this season. Kevin Hayes (SHG) and Chris Kreider (PPG) also found the back of the net for the Rangers on Tuesday night.

Kevin Hayes scored a power play goal in Thursday's 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders.

Brady Skjei's shot bounced off the back boards before bouncing to Hayes, who buried it to give his team a 1-0 lead at the time. Unfortunately for the Rangers, they allowed two goals in the second frame and were never able to recover. Hayes has now scored a goal in three consecutive games. He's also riding a five-game point streak and he's accumulated seven points in his last seven contests.

Ryan Spooner found the back of the net in a 3-2 loss to Washington on Wednesday.

That goal was his 40th point in 54 games this season. This is the second time in his career that he's reached the 40-point milestone with the first coming in 2015-2016. He's been particularly effective since being acquired by the Rangers as he has three goals and 15 points in 15 games with New York.

He was born in Russia but moved to North America at the age of eight months as his dad tried to make it as an NHLer. He played 43 games with Vancouver and the Islanders but returned to Russia when Vladislav was nine. Vladislav also had a couple of uncles in the NHL including Slava Kozlov and Ivan Novoseltsev. With all that hockey around him, it was his mom who pushed him into the game. Namestnikov was a first round pick of the Lightning in 2011 and was dealt a week ago to the Rangers. He has 21 goals and 46 points in 65 games this season.

Matt Beleskey will play in this afternoon's regular-season finale against the Philadelphia Flyers.

It'll be his first game since the end of November. Steven Fogarty will also dress while Peter Holland, Paul Carey and David Desharnais will serve as the healthy scratches. Tony DeAngelo (ankle), Kevin Shattenkirk (knee), Steven Kampfer (hand), Jesper Fast (groin) and Cody McLeod (abdomen) will also miss the game.

The Rangers had the eighth-worst record so they dropped a spot as Carolina moved from 11th to second. It will be a big draft for New York as they have three first round picks, picking late in the first round with selections being owed to them from Tampa Bay and Boston. They could turn things around quickly with an outstanding draft and could move up by trading an extra pick or two.

Pavel Buchnevich was dropped from the first line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider Saturday.

Buchnevich played 17:32 Saturday and was on a line with Jimmy Vesey and Vladislav Namestnikov. He had one shot on goal. "It’s the NHL, it’s the best league. Every player goes through, in a season, some ups and downs," coach Alain Vigneault said before the game. "But we think Butchie has a high skill level and we’re working with him to put it all together." He has 14 goals and 36 points in 61 games this season and is worth taking late in deeper pools next season.

Coach Alain Vigneault said Fast's groin injury could keep him out of the final three games of the season. "I know he's going to try real hard to come back," Vigneault said, "but I would not count on it."

Brady Skjei was on the ice for three even strength goals in a 4-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Skjei and Marc Staal combined for a minus-6 rating tonight and were severely outplayed by the Leafs from the moment the puck was dropped. Skjei has 16 points in 51 games this season with a minus-6 rating. He has no fantasy value but is someone to monitor heading into next season.

Sproul has two assists in four games with the Blueshirts this year. He also has 10 goals and 25 points in 44 games with Hartford of the AHL. Tony DeAngelo had an MRI Tuesday morning and the team is awaiting the results.

John Gilmour posted a goal just 1:22 into overtime in Wednesday's victory in Vancouver.

Gilmour picked up a plus-1 rating with a team-high five shots on goal across 21:35 of ice time. He posted six goals and 20 assists over 44 AHL games this season, showing off some offensive skill. Gilmour is worth a look in the very deepest of fantasy pools if you need help along the blue line.

Steven Kampfer will be out for four-to-six weeks because of a fractured hand.

Kampfer has one assist in 22 appearances with the Rangers this season. New York played without fellow blueliners Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal and Kevin Shattenkirk on Sunday. The team has brought up Ryan Sproul from the minors as another potential fill-in.

O'Gara is with the Rangers after the Boston Bruins traded him on Tuesday. He only got into 11 games over two seasons with Boston as the rest of his time was spent in the minors. Now with the Rangers, he's set to play on a pairing with John Gilmour on Thursday and if he does well enough, he might be able to stick with the club. "It’s no secret that there is [an opportunity] and that there’s time here to prove myself," O’Gara said. "If I can step in and play my game, I think I can get comfortable playing some NHL games and I think it’ll help me a lot moving forward, hopefully solidifying myself in the organization. It’s a clean slate."

Defenseman Neal Pionk will play for the United States at the upcoming World Championships in Denmark.

The tournament will start later this week and the defenseman impressed the American coaching staff enough during his 28 games with the Rangers where he had a goal and 14 points. The 22-year-old was undrafted but signed with the Rangers after a couple of big seasons with the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

The Rangers are looking for their next head coach to be someone who will be able to develop their young players.

The Rangers have made some efforts to rebuild and it will be the next bench boss' job to make the most out of the young talent they have and will acquire through that process. "We’re looking for someone who can develop players and develop a team," executive chairman Jim Dolan said. "We want someone who is going to be able to work with young players — all of our players, really — so that they and we improve from one stage of the season to the next and we’re better at the end of the year than at the beginning." Dolan added that he felt former head coach Alain Vigneault was good for a developed team. It seems though that the Rangers want something different going forward and given the roster they're likely to dress, that makes sense.

Ondrej Pavelec allowed two goals on 22 shots in Thursday's 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders.

Pavelec and the Rangers went into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead, but they allowed the Islanders to score a pair of goals in the second frame. Pavelec has now a 4-9-1 record with a 3.05 goals-against-average and a .910 save percentage this season. He's dropped each of his last two games. The pending unrestricted free agent will likely be looking for a backup job with a new team this off-season.